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Visit from the Pirihimana-Police
Today we had a surprise visitor - the local pirihimana-police officers from Kilbirnie.
They decided to pop in for a quick visit to see the tamariki and introduce themselves as the people who look after us an our community. They mentioned that their job is to keep the area safe particularly while we are sleeping. They also help people in the community, educate people on how to keep themselves safe and help children if they need it or are lost. We discussed how the police are someone who we can trust and go to if we need. We also discussed the importance of tamariki to know their own and their parents' names if they were to get lost.
Tamariki got the chance to ask questions like -
Do you chase bad guys? - Yes, however this is only a very small amount of what we do.
Do you put them in jail? - Only if they have done something really bad, we would rather teach them how to do better and be nicer than put them in jail.
What is all the things you are carrying? - The officer was carrying a radio that is connected to head office, they use it to tell them all the details they need and tell them where to go/what to do, a cell phone which they use to look up information about people, a flashlight, keys, a taser and pepper spray which they only use very rarely, baton, handcuffs, a special vest and high vis so they can be seen from far away and in the dark.
The tamariki showed the police officers around the centre and told the police officers how they were getting a new playground soon and how excited we all were for that. They said they will have to come back so they can see the new playground. We look forward to seeing them again.
The officers even turned on the siren for us as they were leaving.
What a great experience to learn more about the special workers in our community. Police do such an important job. Through this experience tamariki were able to make connections between people, places and things in their community and their worlds.